The Protestantism of Transcendentalism

religions Article Reformation Leads to Self-Reliance: The Protestantism of Transcendentalism Rachel B. Griffis Department of Language and Literature, Sterling College, 125 W Cooper Ave, Sterling, KS 67579, USA; rachel.griffi[email protected]; Tel.: +1-620-278-4326 Academic Editor: Christopher Metress Received: 27 December 2016; Accepted: 14 February 2017; Published: 21 February 2017 Abstract: This article examines connections between the Protestant Reformation and American literature and argues that Protestantism’s best expression exists in contemporary iterations of self-reliance. The first part focuses on William Ellery Channing’s and Ralph Waldo Emerson’s literary criticism of John Milton, a poet who represents the Protestant ideals these writers combine with American principles to develop the literary tradition. The second part discusses the trajectory of American literature in the nineteenth century and extends this discussion to current assumptions regarding teaching and learning. Keywords: Protestantism; transcendentalism; self-reliance; Milton; Channing; Emerson In 1775 when the British conservative Edmund Burke commented on revolutionary and religious zeal in America, he drew attention to the unique relationship between the Protestant Reformation and the identity of America, the site for what he called “the protestantism of the Protestant religion” ([1], p. 71). When the American transcendentalist literary movement emerged in the next century, the writers of this period also drew upon the Protestant Reformation to express the tenets of their own age. American literary critic and Catholic convert Orestes Brownson’s aptly titled article “Protestantism ends in Transcendentalism” (1846) describes transcendentalism as “nothing but the fundamental principle of the Protestant reformation itself” ([2], p. 115). Similarly, Ralph Waldo Emerson, the quintessential transcendentalist, suggests the Protestant Reformation produced Calvinism, which “rushes to be Unitarianism, as Unitarianism rushes to be pure Theism” ([3], p. 117). Like Burke, Brownson and Emerson locate America as a place where the Reformation manifested itself, although they point to the movements of the nineteenth century, and not the founding of the country, as the furthest reaches of Protestant thought. Historians, theologians, and literary scholars have long noted the complementary relationship between Protestantism and nineteenth century print culture in America. However, scholars have tended to discuss this relationship in terms of the eventual secularization of American culture rather than to consider literature as a significant medium for the continuation and development of American Protestantism, which may be most visible today in the cultural virtues of self-reliance.1 This article will demonstrate the importance of teaching nineteenth American literature as a powerful agent for Protestantism as well as connect this century’s literary and religious developments to current assumptions about learning and education. In the first part, I will suggest that the role many 1 For example, Brad S. Gregory, whom I will reference in the body of the article, connects Protestantism to secularization when he argues that “the expansion of rights inaugurated by the right to religious liberty would eventually include the right to religious unbelief and the right to live in ways antithetical to Christian morality” ([4], p. 188). While I agree with Gregory that Protestantism set in motion the option of unbelief, my article focuses on the ways in which the culture of self-reliance, wrought from individual rights, is itself an expression of Protestantism and evidence of religiosity in America. Religions 2017, 8, 30; doi:10.3390/rel8020030 www.mdpi.com/journal/religions Religions 2017, 8, 30 2 of 10 writers, specifically William Ellery Channing and Ralph Waldo Emerson, expected literature to play in American life is indicative of Protestantism’s legacy in the United States. By examining Channing’s and Emerson’s criticism on John Milton, this section will highlight how they idealized literature as the conduit for the values and concepts of individualism, freedom, and self-government. The second part traces the role of literature in the moral lives of Americans through trends in the latter half of the nineteenth century and concludes with a discussion of education in light of the Reformation through an aspect of Protestantism that inspired many American writers: what Brownson describes as “the right of private judgment” ([2], p. 125).2 Overall, I hope to show that the development of the American literary tradition reflects the far-reaching effects of the sixteenth century European Reformation, which distantly yet significantly inspired the literature of the United States to function as a moral voice in the lives of the people. 1. Protestantism Gives Way to Transcendentalism: Milton, Channing, and Emerson In the first few decades of the nineteenth century, American writers became increasingly concerned with developing a literary tradition that was uniquely American and equal to England’s. In 1815, Walter Channing lamented the absence of “a literature of our own” as he speculates whether, our venerable fathers, when they deserted their own country, bring with them a thread of that literary tissue, so varied, so rich, and so beautiful, which had been the result of the dignified and delightful labour of England through so many ages of its history? Have we, their descendants, united our industry to theirs? ([5], pp. 35–36) Channing’s desire for a specifically “American” literature demonstrates his concern that the nation’s writers produce works exemplifying the lives and values of American people in a way that equals, if not rivals, creative works by the British. In 1820, the British writer Sydney Smith fanned the fires when he taunted Americans regarding their literature. “In the four quarters of the globe,” he writes, “who reads an American book? Or goes to an American play? Or looks at an American picture or statue?” ([6], p. 79). The nation’s writers in the first half of the nineteenth century responded to remarks such as Channing’s and Smith’s by building a national literature, of which the transcendentalists were a vital part. The transcendentalists’ vision for a national literature was inspired by their moral, Protestant-inflected ideals as much as their patriotism, an important point for teachers and students of the Reformation and the American literary tradition. F.O. Matthiessen acknowledges the moral undertones of this literary movement when he writes, “the transcendent theory of art is a theory of knowledge and religion as well” ([7], p. 31). More pointedly, Perry Miller asserts “that the Transcendental movement is most accurately to be defined as a religious demonstration,” and, “Neither Emerson nor Thoreau conceived of himself as an artist, but each of them came close—perilously close perhaps—to imagining himself a prophet” ([8], pp. 8–9). As Matthiessen’s and Miller’s comments show, many of the transcendentalists studied today by undergraduates and included in anthologies believed their objectives were religious ones and that they furthered the efforts of the sixteenth century reformers. For example, Margaret Fuller, hoping to renew what she calls the Protestants’ “great principle,” writes to support what she understands as the reformers’ original mission: “respect for the right of private judgment and the decision of conscience in the individual” ([9], p. 93). The novelist Catharine Maria Sedgwick celebrates “the great principle achieved and fixed by the Protestant battle—the right of private judgment” as she berates the Calvinists for obstructing this principle ([10], 2 Many other nineteenth century authors used this phrase to refer to the accomplishments of the Protestant Reformation, including Catharine Maria Sedgwick and Margaret Fuller, who will be cited in this article. Religions 2017, 8, 30 3 of 10 p. 338).3 The Unitarian minister William Ellery Channing, the older brother of Walter, calls for the continuation of the Reformation in his promotion of Unitarianism because “a Papal dominion is perpetuated in the Protestant church” ([12], p. 101). These statements, which express the common goals of the European reformers and the transcendentalists, demonstrate how many American writers in the nineteenth century viewed themselves as stewards of Protestantism in the New World and not necessarily apostates who sought to liberate others from religion. They were instead seeking the fulfillment of freedom promised by the Reformation.4 Emerson, perhaps the most studied and influential of the transcendentalists, writes about movements such as the Protestant Reformation and the American Revolution as steps in the path to self-reliance, the ultimate form of human freedom. He suggests that Protestantism progresses into such movements as “Calvinism into Old and New schools; Quakerism into Old and New,” as a result of one “key” phenomenon: “the mind had become aware of itself” ([3], pp. 325–26). Emerson goes on to describe and celebrate the progress of human culture toward his self-reliant ideals: Men grew reflective and intellectual. There was a new consciousness. The former generations acted under the belief that a shining social prosperity was the beatitude of man, and sacrificed uniformly the citizen to the State. The modern mind believed that the nation existed for the individual, for the guardianship and education of every man. This idea, roughly written in revolutions and national movements,

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